Missing Pages

Chapter 14: Little Scoundrel

The next morning I sat at the table munching on a bowl of Cookie Crisp cereal. My dad had already left for work and David still wasn't up, so I was guessing that his alarm didn't go off. Tiptoeing towards the sink, I quietly set my bowl in it, as I did not want to disturb the peacefulness in the house. A few seconds later my brother appeared at the bottom of the stairs with mismatching shoes and a backwards shirt.

"What are you wearing? It's not opposite day!" I spoke gesturing to his attire.

David looked down at his shirt and rolled his eyes. He trolled right back up to his room with a sigh. Chuckling to myself, I stood up to leave for school.

"Jasmine?"

I turned around to see my mother still in her nightgown. "I didn't mean to wake you up on an off day," I apologized.

"You didn't," she assured me. "Would you mind checking the mail for me?"

"No, not at all," I replied before heading to the mailbox. Its only contents were a magazine and some advertisements.

I re-entered the kitchen. "Just a bunch of junk mail," I stated.

"Thank you. Have a great day, honey!" called my mother from the doorway.

When I reached the sidewalk, I noticed that the mailbox was open. I was certain that I remembered to close it earlier...

Walking back to the box, I removed another letter that hadn't been in there a few minutes before. It was addressed to me. Closing the mail door again, I continued on my way to school.

***

"Blah blah blah said he said that she knew a guy blah blah went to jail blah blah blah-"

I gave up trying to follow her conversation. She was jabbering on and on about the latest gossip scandal which I found annoying. I knew better than to believe any of that stuff.

People glanced at us curiously as we walked by. I already knew that my reputation would be at stake, and stupendous rumors would soon be surfacing if I continued to hang around Nina. I didn't care much about my social status, but I wouldn't want to be known as a "bully sidekick". You know how persuasive and cruel some of those popular kids can be.

While some may have believed that I was following her around like a lost puppy, starving for some juicy bullying strategies that day, it was actually quite the opposite. Nina has been following me around since I arrived here this morning. It was as though she was watching, waiting for something to happen. She would stop at nothing to discover any new information about me.

I noticed Carmen's quick movement in the hallway, and went up to her. Maybe she could save me from Nina.

"Hey."

"You're going down the wrong path and you know it," she spoke.

"What are you talking about?"

"Do you not realize your 'new friend's' intentions? I thought you were smarter than this Jasmine."

"Look," I told Carmen, "I don't know what you've heard, but I am not doing anything with Nina. She's been following me around for the last few hours."

"Well it looks to me like I interrupted a friendly conversation between you two. I'm sorry that a cautious warning isn't as important to you than that guy going to jail," she sneered back.

"What?! You know that you're my one and only best friend. How am I even having a conversation when I haven't even said anything to this girl?"

"This is a part of her plan. She's getting close to you just to get what she needs. I suggest that you open your eyes and quit letting her manipulate you. You'll know when everyone finds out about your secrets." Carmem turned to Nina and jabbed her index finger at her. "And as for you, you'll get what's coming to ya."

"I don't know why you're so jealous of our new 'friendship', but all of that talk about me is lies. And I don't think that anyone's gonna 'find out' my 'secrets' because there is nothing to find out!"

"I didn't hear this from anyone. I happen to have eyes that can see what's clearly going on. I wouldn't get caught being jealous about any scoundrel like Nina!" Carmen shouted the last part loud enough for everyone to hear before storming off the other way.

"Wow. I didn't know that there was so much bad blood between you guys-" Nina began to say.

"Save it. There's no bad blood between us. Oh, and if you don't mind, I would like some alone time," I replied. Then, I walked away to my next class, leaving Nina all alone in the rapidly thinning corridors.